SA Migration International

News Articles

Zim govt property in Cape Town sold for R3.7m

Source: - Jenni Evans, News24, 21/09/2015

Cape Town - A property in Cape Town that belonged to the Zimbabwean
government was auctioned off for R3.76 million on Monday to cover a
legal costs order it owed AfriForum over that country's land reform
programme.

"This was the first time in history that a decision of a human rights
tribunal in Africa led to the sale of a property of the country that
has been guilty of human rights abuses," The South African lobby group
said.

AfriForum lawyer, Advocate Willie Spies, told News24 the Zimbabwean
embassy tried to stop the 10:00 auction with a promise that it was
paying the amount of just under R1 million it owed.

"But we hadn't received anything in our trust," said Spies.

The auction of the three-bedroom, three bathroom, yellow painted house
near the famous Kenilworth racecourse went ahead on the sidewalk of 28
Salisbury avenue, with a crowd watching the spectacle.

Deputy sheriff of the Wynberg North court Morne van der Vyver brought
down the hammer at R3 760 000.

Money to be split
It was sold to a private individual, Arthur Tsimitakopoulos, and once
he has paid the full amount, the money will be split between AfriForum
and German Bank KfW.

The bank is owed millions for money borrowed by the Zimbabwe
government to bail out the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company.
"It was exciting. This whole battle took more than five years. It even
ended up in the Constitutional Court. Finally we have been
vindicated," Spies said.

But they would only feel closer to closure once all Zimbabwe farmers
who had their land taken away in President Robert Mugabe's
controversial land reform programme were compensated, or their land
given back.

In the early 2000s Mugabe's policy to take back land from white
farmers without compensation was stepped up a notch with "war
veterans" descending on properties and forcing owners out, often
violently.

AfriForum stepped in and helped a group of dispossessed Zimbabwean
commercial farmers to enforce a 2008 ruling by the SA Development
Community`s regional court, the SADC Tribunal, in South Africa.

The tribunal ruled that the way the reforms were carried out was
unlawful, racist and in contravention of applicable international law.
South Africa's Constitutional Court confirmed that the tribunal's
ruling was enforceable in South Africa as a member of SADC, and the
auction followed when the Zimbabwean government failed to honor cost
orders of South Africa`s courts.

Mike Campbell, the man who started the challenge, which eventually
included another 77 commercial farmers, died in 2011 as a result of
serious injuries he sustained in the process of being attacked and
removed from his farm, Mount Carmel, in Chegutu in northern
Zimbabwe.

According to the Mike Campbell Foundation, on 29 June 2008, Campbell,
his wife Angela and son-in-law, Ben Freeth, were abducted, brutally
assaulted and forced at gunpoint to sign a piece of paper stating they
would withdraw from the main SADC Tribunal court case due to be argued
the following month.

Campbell was not well enough to attend so Freeth went instead after
surgery for his own injuries.

Next year AfriForum launches a separate lawsuit against President
Jacob Zuma and his ministers of justice and international
relations.

It says this case is in response to the South African government's
alleged complicity in a process that led to the suspension of the SADC
Tribunal's power to adjudicate on human rights abuses against citizens
of member states.

Search

Latest News

This was revealed in the 2025 Easter border operations report, which saw border management authority officials, saps officers and home affairs workers intensify efforts to prevent illegal travel into the country over the holiday period.JOHANNESBURG - Zimbabwean nationals have been identified as the leading individuals attempting to illegally gain entry into South Africa.... Read more...

THE High Court has nullified the re-registration of a birth certificate for a child born out of wedlock, ordering the Registrar-General to strike it from the records.This ruling declared the birth certificate invalid, questioning the legality of attributing paternity to a deceased man decades after his death.The dispute arose from a contested inheritance involving the late Lazarus Mkuduâs estate.Teresiah Mkudu, the applicant, sought a declaratory order to invalidate Ruvimbo Manyondaâs birth certificate, issued nearly 20 years after Mkuduâs death.... Read more...

Residents from 34 countries can now apply for a visa to South Africa online. There are now 34 countries that can apply for a visa to South Africa online, which National Treasury says will help attract more tourists and skills into the country.This was trumpeted in Wednesday`s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) as being one of the key successes of Operation Vulindlela. Operation Vulindlela is a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury to assist in the acceleration of critical reforms needed to accelerate the economy.... Read more...